Genesis 23 - Sarah Dies and is Buried Quiet Book Page

In Genesis 23, Sarah dies and is buried in a cave - the only property Abraham ever owns in the Promised Land during his lifetime.

 

Memory Verse: Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” Genesis 23:3-4 (NIV).

 

Materials needed to create the Sarah Dies and is Buried quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used pale blue
• my free template
• double sided fusible interfacing and/or fabric glue
• fabric scrap for the field - I used a shaggy green
• fabric scrap for the inside of the cave - I used a patterned cotton that somewhat resembled cave paintings
• felt scraps in pink, dark brown, light blue, light purple, and light tan
• light tan small wooden button
• light tan round elastic
• light tan ribbon scrap - I used a jute/hessian/sting type ribbon
• sewing thread to best match the page

Cut out the inside of both sides of the cave and the field from your fabric scraps. I trimmed a lot of the shag from my fabric to reveal short rows of shag to represent my field. Use the double sided fusible interfacing or the fabric glue to attach the fabric scraps to dark brown felt for the cave, and the page background for the field. Cut out the cave pieces from the felt and sew around all the pieces using matching thread in a tight zig zag stitch to prevent fraying.

If you want to add trees as I wish I did (see the devotional section), this might be a good point to do that.

Use the template pieces to line up where the back cave piece should be sewn onto the page and sew it down as close to the zig zag stitch as possible. Then sew the top cave piece over the top along the bottom, left side and top edge, leaving the right side open to form a pocket.

Cut out Sarah and sew onto the same colour felt, then cut her out. You can put her in the cave pocket.

If you are using actual ribbon, see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying.

Cut out your left and right city gates from the light tan felt. Line up your city gates and measure the amount of elastic you will need to fit over your button on the opposite side (with a bit extra to sew into the left gate). Sew down the left gate with the elastic tucked between it and more light tan felt on the inside edge of the gate, and the light tan ribbon on the outside edge to use as a hinge. Cut it out, being careful to fold back the elastic and ribbon so you don't cut them off as you do this. Sew down your right gate with ribbon on the outside edge and cut it out, folding back the ribbon as you go around. Hand sew your button onto the right city gate. Button the elastic from the left city gate over the button on the right city gate.

Use your template pieces to line up where to position Abraham and Ephron on the back of the city. They should hover a little above the bottom edge so that you can sew the back city piece onto the page background. Use your front city template piece to position the back city behind where the gate will be and sew it down. Place the city gate over the back city and place the front city piece over the ribbon hinges. Trim and prevent the ribbons from fraying if needed to fit underneath the front city piece without sticking out the outer wall of the city. Ensure there is enough ribbon so the gate can be swung open. Sew the front city into position catching the ribbon as you go.

My photos reveal that I sewed the purple hill down before the city, but I think it is better to sew it after so you can be sure to align the edgeof the  city with the edge of the field. If you cut the purple hill a bit wider/longer than necessary, you can cut it down to fit exactly in the space between the cave and the city. Sew the purple hill in place. 

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus no-sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 23 - God promised the whole land to Abraham and his descendants - but this promise was not realised in Abraham's lifetime, yet he believed it would happen (and one day he will live to see it)
• Buttoning - open and close the city gate using a button
• Pocket Play - young children love pulling things out and placing items and putting them back (not always lol) into pockets - Sarah is all wrapped up ready to be buried in the cave
• Peek-a-boo - Abraham and Ephron are hiding behind the city gate
• Imaginative Play - sometimes kids need to be allowed to play with topics like death and burial, especially if they have recently lost a loved one - play is how they work through issues
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 23

Devotional

While Abraham didn't own the whole Promised Land, God did allow him one little slice where he could confidently bury his dead without fear of disruption.

The Death and Burial of Sarah (Chapter 23)

Parable Tunes

This song made me realise I had left an important part of this page out. It made me realise that this scene and the location of the cave and field at Machpelah near Mamre including all the trees in the field is probably the same place that Abraham camped near the trees at Mamre in Genesis chapter 18 when God visits him and talks to him about a promised son, and about Sodom and Gomorrah. 

It must have been a very significant and special place for Abraham and the family. I think maybe this place holds his hopeful expectation of the resurrection and the ultimate fulfilment of God's promises. If I made this page again, I'd want to include the great trees at Mamre.

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